1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems. More particularly, the invention relates to controlling an environmental condition in a location.
2. Description of the Related Art
The typical air vents in commercial and residential settings consist of louvers which may be manually opened or closed in varying degrees. These air vents provide a limited ability to adjust the amount of airflow into a room or area, the air coming from a central environmental control unit, such as a furnace, central air conditioner, or dehumidifier. There may be several such vents connected, via ducts, to the central environmental control unit, each vent providing airflow to a room or area. Since these vents are generally connected to a central unit, the opening or closing of one or more vents affects the airflow to the other vents. If it is desired to restrict the flow of air in a single area or room, then the other rooms or areas are affected. To restrict the flow to a room or area, the vent for that room or area must be manually adjusted. Furthermore, a single thermostat typically controls the operation of the environmental control unit. If that thermostat is in the room or area where the airflow is adjusted, then the temperature and climate of the other rooms or areas are affected. The temperature and climate of the other rooms or areas are affected even if the thermostat is not in the room or area were the airflow is adjusted, owing to the fact that the ratios of airflow between the remaining vents are altered by the opening or closing of any of the vents. This usually leads to the need to readjust all vents if any one of the vents is opened or closed, a process which may require several iterations to perfect, and then only for the specific conditions at the time the adjustment was made. Further, if one overly restricts airflow by closing too many vents, damage to the environmental control unit may occur.
In cases where the vent to be adjusted resides in a tall ceiling, the user must climb a ladder or use a stick to open and close the vent. This can be an inconvenience especially in situations where a user wishes to open or close a vent at multiple times during the day to account for changes in solar influx or room use pattern. In one example, a user wishes to keep certain vents restricted during the night to conserve energy, such as to emphasize the vents in the sleeping quarters, and then close them during the day. A further complication occurs when a user wishes to boost the heating or cooling in a specific room. With a conventional AC system, the only way to boost a given room is to restrict flow in other rooms, requiring that the user change multiple vent controls in other rooms to accomplish the user's goals.
This problem has been partially addressed with various remote-controlled vent louvers. A user may install a vent louver that is powered by being wired to a source of electricity or by batteries. The remote control allows the user to point at the vent to open or close the vent. Such a configuration reduces the need for manually adjusting the vent, but either method requires wiring through the system or periodic battery replacement. A further restriction of these devices is that they are operated independently, but still affect each other as it relates to cooling, heating, humidity, or to control complex multi-room issues.